GRETNA, La. — A local police officer is causing controversy with a Facebook comment about a U.S. representative that was published and then deleted this week.
According to WWL-TV's partners at The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate, Gretna Police Department officer Charlie Rispoli posted a fake news article with a comment on his Facebook this past week calling U.S. representative Alexandra Oscasio-Cortez a "vile idiot who needs a round, and I don't mean the kind she used to serve."
The comment alludes to the recently elected Democrat's past work as a bartender in New York City, while suggesting she should be shot.
Rispoli, a Gretna police officer since 2005, could not be reached for comment, but Gretna Police Chief Arthur Lawson told the The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate that he was... "not going to take this lightly and this will be dealt with on our end"
Lawson said he does not think the comment is an actual threat but did say it appears to violate the department's social media policy.
"Whether you agree or disagree with the message of these elected officials and how frustrated you may or may not get, this certainly is not the type of thing that a public servant should be posting," Lawson said.
Lawson said the incident was being investigated.
The article Rispoli shared and commented featured a photo marked as "satire" and was certified as "false" the website snopes.com, according to The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate.
According to The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate website, NOLA.com, Rispoli's post was made Thursday afternoon, deleted on Friday and his entire Facebook page had been taken down by Saturday.
Oscasio-Cortez has been in the spotlight this week after U.S. President Donald Trump targeted her and three other Democratic congresswoman of color in a series of tweets, for saying what he called "horrible things" about the U.S. He suggested they leave, though all are U.S. citizens.
On Saturday, Ocasio-Cortez told constituents on Saturday that President Trump enjoyed hearing a crowd at his rally call for a U.S. congresswoman to return to the country where she was born.
WWL-TV reached out to the Gretna Police Department for further comment but did not hear back Sunday.
